Rory Gallagher’s father says he was not the victim of Donegal supporters’ abuse

THE FATHER OF Donegal manager Rory Gallagher has denied he received abuse from sections of the Donegal support in Sligo on Saturday.

Donegal’s 1992 All-Ireland winning manager Brian McEniff said in his column in a local newspaper yesterday he was disappointed to learn that Garry Gallagher, Rory’s father, was the target of some Donegal supporters’ frustrations following Donegal’s 4-17 to 0-14 loss against Galway at Markievicz Park.

McEniff wrote: “I want to condemn out of hand the abuse suffered by Rory Gallagher’s father, Gerry, at the game on Saturday evening by a number of Donegal supporters.

I did not see the incident myself but I was made aware of it. If I had seen it I would have intervened because that type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.

Gerry Gallagher is a decent man and in no way deserved the kind of abuse I’m told he received on Saturday. It must be condemned by us all and it must be stamped out.”

The story went viral online today and when the actions of the Donegal supporters was criticised by Donegal’s 2012 All-Ireland winner Eamon McGee on Twitter, Gerry Gallagher responded to say the claims were wide of the mark.

Hi Eamon,I wish to state categorically that I have never been victim of any verbal abuse from Donegal fans.

— Gerry Gallagher (@gaa1303) July 25, 2017